Arctic Secrets

Watch the Arctic, locked in darkness for nearly seven months, spring to life once the sun rises. Stunning footage displays the migration, hibernation, and complex food web of the region’s most iconic wildlife.

When scientists wanted to simulate living conditions on Mars, they chose Devon Island, the largest uninhabited island in the world. Darkness dominates this remote wilderness, where polar bears and seals are locked in a deadly struggle.

The Mackenzie Delta is a biological hotspot where boreal forests transition to frozen tundra, and where strange creatures thrive above an immense underbelly of permafrost, each telling the story of an ever-changing Arctic.

Fall descends along the shores of Nunavik’s Ungava Bay. Long summer days become short, and the tundra erupts in a blaze of red, orange, yellow, and purple, signalling to ptarmigan and other wildlife that they must fatten up for the hardship ahead.

On the north-east coast of Baffin Island lies Ninginganiq, a blustery wilderness where only the intrepid travel. Among those visitors are the bowhead whales that gather to socialize in the storm-ravaged seas, creating a rarely seen spectacle.

Every summer, the frozen waters of Hudson Bay partially thaw for a few short months. For migrating beluga whales, it's a window of feeding and breeding opportunities, but for polar bears, it's a famine-filled test of survival.

Each year, thousands of salmon head upstream along the mighty Yukon River, desperate to reach spawning beds. Watch as a host of hungry predators check the salmon’s progress, eager to stock up on protein before winter arrives.

A polar bear mother keeps watch over her cub as they wait for winter feeding opportunities. But threats are everywhere.